A fairly ordinary girl with an extraordinary love of life and words. I really can’t shut my brain off to what is wonderful and wonderous all around me. Friendly (most of the time), except at four in the morning when I wake up (and even then I’m generally affable), intensely curious, and trying to find a home for my YA novel. Any questions or just want to say ‘hi’ go ahead and drop me a note at heatherzundel [at] gmail [dot] com. I’d love hearing from you.

Followers

Current Theme Song (aka what's playing on my ipod right now): April Pearl by What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?

I love trying new things. Because now I hurt in new ways that I possibly couldn't imagine. Ibuprofen, you are my best friend. Who knew that in fencing you are supposed to be in a semi-crouched position the whole time you're fighting? I'm remembering my (much) younger days in karate. Hurt back then too.

Also, never ever underestimate the weight of a two pound sword. That doesn't seem like much, but hold that baby up for two hours and you've got a paradigm shift on pain. I have a new appreciation for fencers all over the world. The first week we didn't even touch a foil. We just used our hands and pretended they were swords (that was really funny *swish swish - stab!*). After that first night of just holding up my hand, I thought I was going to die. Then add the foil and wow. (However, the first time I held the sword in my hand, it was the coolest feeling in the world. It was like we bonded. I couldn't stop grinning). It is getting a lot better now. Last night, my arm almost didn't hurt at all. Also, swords are longer than you think, really. Don't swish them around. Funny and stupid things happen then.

Let's see...

~Hollywood-style fencing is not like real fencing. You face a smaller target and fights with much smaller movements. The moves look great, but with all the swishing and flailing, it leaves you wide open and then - stab!

~Girls - always always wear bobby pins for your bangs. You may look stupid, but when you pull your mask off to shake hands with your opponent for the seven-hundredth time, you'll thank me.

~It's weird looking out through black mesh while you're fighting, but it hides any strange expressions on your face you might be making while you are concentrating - thus making you look a lot cooler. :)

~Only the white area of the torso counts as a hit. Neck, mask, and arms are "off target." Guess where I happen to hit with surprising frequency?

I only have one week left in class, and hopefully I can sneak someone in next week to take video of me. I'm sure I think I look a lot cooler than I really am. So hopefully this will be a WriterGirl epic-win video instead of a WriterGirl embarass-herself epic fail. But hey, even if we all get a good laugh, it's all good. :) Then we can appreciate the real masters all the more for it.

Elle Strauss - Haha, it really is true isn't it? Almost everything looks glamorous from a distance. I keep watching the Olympics, thinking "I totally want to do that. It looks amazing" without thinking of the work it took to get there.

Heather - Trust me, if I can at all manage it, everyone will definitely be getting a video.